The Israeli national broadcaster responsible for the nation’s Eurovision participation, KAN, has surprisingly announced this morning that it cannot guarantee their participation in this year’s contest in Turin due to security issues surrounding the delegation.

In a tweet posted by the broadcaster this morning, they detail that “due to the strike by the foreign ministry, the GSS (General Security Service) can not handle the Israeli delegation to the Eurovision Song Contest, and as of this moment, the Israeli delegation will not participate (…) in Turin”.

In a later response tweet to a concerned fan, the broadcaster has stated that “all options are being considered” to provide a performance in Turin, such as a live-on-tape recording of Michael Ben David’s entry “I.M”.

Israel was set to be represented by Michael Ben David in Turin with “I.M”, after his victory in the Israeli version of The X Factor earlier this year.

The EBU and Eurovision team have not yet commented on the latest updates from KAN.

This would not be the first instance in recent history that the Israeli participation in the contest is under threat; in 2017 the Israeli spokesperson Ofer Nachshon announced to the contest that their entry would be Israel’s last due to the broadcaster IBA shutting down. In fact, the current broadcaster KAN was started just days later and took over the role of state broadcaster from the defunct IBA, and Israel then participated in and won the 2018 contest.

What do #YOU think of this developing story? Will we see Israel present in Turin in the end? Share your thoughts with us on our forum HERE or join the discussion below and on social media!

Load More Related Articles
Load More By Sean Tarbuck
Load More In Latest News

Leave a Reply

Check Also

Özkan Uğur, two-time Turkish Eurovision artist with MFÖ, has died aged 69

Özkan Uğur, one of Turkey’s most celebrated musicians as member of the band MFÖ, has…